Federal official approves extradition for Indian citizen who skipped trial

An Amarillo federal magistrate on Tuesday approved an extradition request by the Canadian government for an Indian citizen who skipped out on his 2005 drug trafficking trial in Ontario.

U.S. Marshals arrested Sukdev Singh Virk, 47, on Oct. 27 after the judge approved an arrest warrant for Virk on Oct. 26, according to court records.

Amarillo police located Virk at a city hospital after he was detained for causing a disturbance on a bus and was ordered to be mentally assessed, the complaint said. Virk was subsequently found to be mentally fit, court records said.

In court Tuesday, Virk told U.S. Magistrate Judge Clinton E. Averitte through a Punjabi interpreter on a teleconference that the facts in the extradition complaint were accurate.

Canadian authorities arrested Virk on Sept. 1, 2003, and prosecutors charged him with importing 7.7 pounds of cocaine and about 88 pounds of marijuana in his commercial truck that also had a shipment of California produce.

Police caught Virk as he crossed the U.S.-Canada border from Detroit to Windsor, Ontario, the complaint said. At his March 2005 trial, when Virk was free on bail, he absconded on the scheduled date for closing arguments, court records show.

Prosecutors continued with the case, and a judge found Virk guilty on June 30, 2005, the complaint said.The judge sentenced Virk to seven years in prison on each charge and ordered the sentences to run concurrently, according to court records.